BladeHunters
'Overview' The BladeHunters is a proud organization, manned by elite humans and worthy furrs who excel in training and handling Airla. The Handlers and their airla partners make up several specialized divisions, working in fields such as Security, Hunting, and Culling. Based in the Town of Edge in Hasseran (and referred to locally as the Blades of Edge), their activities have a wide reach on the continent, and even to Jiskadar beyond, where they have retained some ties to the original ComDob facility. A secondary force of BladeHunters known as the ComDob Group remains in south Jiskadar at the old facility, handling the security and training of local airla there. 'History' The BladeHunters were formed as a division of ComDob over a decade ago, to supply the research facility with both new subjects and security. As the scope of ComDob's experiments increased, and its range across Terrak as well, more divisions of BladeHunters were formed, with bases on Jiskadar at the original ComDob facility, as well as at ComDob West in Hasseran. During the Sundering, however, ComDob West and the BladeHunters stationed there were lost to the quakes, and ComDob in Jiskadar was also badly damaged. The organizations regrouped, with ComDob's ambitious scope somewhat curtailed. Hasseran was deemed to be the most suitable base for the revived BladeHunters organization, as it still a mostly wild land with an extensive supply of wild airla and room for expansion. The new head, Jethrin Trainer, moved the teams to the Town of Edge in a pact with Duchess Assidea Varga, the town founder and leader, to provide security for the town, as well as wild airla for the breeding programs in place there, in return for a stable base of operations and funding capital. 'Blades of Edge' After six years in their new location, they have stabilized the area and ramped up capture production for both the local realms of Edge and Holdensvale, as well as shipping specimens back to ComDob. Recent tensions between Holdensvale, an important local trading partner, and the distant New Timbervast on Jiskadar, however, have caused overseas shipments to decline, as focus on local strength has become more paramount and distrust of those across the waters grows. As the "Blades of Edge," the Hasseran BladeHunters are responsible for patroling the town and its trade routes, enforcing the local laws and acting as the first line of defense against beasts and marauders who threaten its peace. Enhanced with the latest in black powder weaponry and experimental magitech from Edge's renowned scientists and magitechnicians, they have become quite a force to be reckoned with, and are sometimes hired out as private guards for merchant caravans. This Security division is highly prized for its discipline, strength, and impecable teamwork between handler and airla. In addition to security and defense, a second division of BladeHunters, led by Director Trainer himself, is tasked with obtaining wild specimens for breeding and recruitment purposes. The Capture division is renowned for its athletic and intellectual skills, and the intuitive connection between handler and airla as they work out in the wilds. The Edge breeding facility determines whether captured airla are best suited for more domestic pursuits (beasts of burden, guard airla, family pets, show airla), new recruits for the BladeHunter teams, or the Arena (pit fighting airla). Depending on an airla's decided role, they will undergo various levels of Wiping and training suited to their new tasks, to make them obedient to humans. Airla bound for domestic tasks receive the most complete wiping, to make them easily manageable by the general population, with allowance for proper aggressive behaviors for those bound for guard duties. BladeHunter airla, likewise, are expertly wiped, but retain a higher level of free thinking to allow for intelligent response in dangerous situations. They are, however, exceptionally loyal and obedient. Airla receiving the least amount of wiping are those bound for the Arena, where retaining a wild and violent nature is part of the show. Such airla are sometimes procured by private buyers looking to "break in" a wild spirit on their own, but such purchases are carefully monitored with a lot of liability disclosures. A third division of the BladeHunters is referred to as the Culling team, and is sent out when a wild pack has been deemed a threat to local settlements or trade routes. This is the most feared division, even beyond the famed Security force, for its cold precision and brute strength. Where the other two teams tend to have more of a partnership bond and a sense of equality between handler and airla, this division emphasizes human dominance over the airla-as-weapon, and they airla themselves are some of the most unquestionably devoted to their human handlers. In times when the team is not needed for erradication, they are hired out as hunting guides to escort adventurous nobles into the Dreyscar to hunt the prized beasts created by the Magistorms. As such creatures are almost always too much for the nobles to handle, they prove to be good practice for the Culling team when they inevitably have to come to the rescue of the soft tourist-hunters. 'ComDob Group' The BladeHunters who remained at the ComDob facility in South Jiskadar maintain a structure similar to the larger Blades of Edge in Hasseran, with divisions specializing in Security, Capture, and Training. There is, however, more crossover between division duties, as the ranks of BladeHunters remaining in Jiskadar is smaller. Their primary functions, as a reflection of ComDob itself, is in procuring and training airla for purchase by the general public, from guardian airla to show and pet airla. Recent tensions between the Kings of New Timbervast and Holdensvale have shifted the focus from general pets and pretty show hounds to fierce fighters, however, and the facility is pressed to its limits in procuring and producing suitable airla. The Training division is kept quite busy keeping the proper balance of obedience and aggression in the mind-wiped wild aquisitions the Capture teams bring back, as most of ComDob's breeding stock was geared towards more docile lines for the pet and show airla markets. Likewise, the Security teams are on high alert, from threats both manmade and from retaliation of the wild packs that are becoming more aggressive due to the heightened hunting. Category:World